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NEA & Orios backed retail analytics provider Intelligence Node Consulting Pvt. Ltd., raised Rs. 5 crores from Mumbai based specialized financing NBFC firm BlackSoil Capital Private Limited. Intelligence Node is also backed by marquee angel investors, viz. Gaurav Sharma, Sunil Varrier, Arindam Das, Anupam Mittal and Gul Mukhey.

Launched in 2012 as a consulting service, Intelligence Node is providing technology-based products and service providers to global retail players. It has a total customer base of 35 clients and covers over 1 bn+ unique products of over 130,000 brands. The company’s two products [InCompetitor & InOptimizer] enable the customers to get an overview of the competitive landscape in terms of pricing & visibility. It also suggests the client the most optimum pricing for its products. Its strong back-end analytics process is able to support a wide range of offerings in terms of refined data in the most efficient matter.

Sanjeev Sularia, CEO and Co-founder of IntelligenceNode said

IntelligenceNode has some great aspirations in reaching out to blue-chip MNC’s in global retail. The utility for our products & services is immense and with the help of venture debt provided by BlackSoil our business has got optimum fuel to run and grow faster in this industry.

Ankur Bansal, Director, BlackSoil Capital Private Limited. said

We found the products, the technology, the founders and the utility of IntelligenceNode very impressive & path breaking. The company has strong client traction coupled with zero client churn. We have great hopes from the company and wish the team all the luck for its future endeavors.

After investments in Cloud based telephony company Knowlarity, Indian arm of NASDAQ listed company Groupon Nearbuy, BlackSoil has completed its third Venture debt transaction with Intelligence Node. In six months of its operation, the NBFC has reached a INR 75 Crores loan book across 7 transactions and in process to expand their loan book to ~INR 100 Crores by March 2017.

BlackSoil is backed by the family offices of respected corporate houses such as: Gala family-Promoters of Navneet Education Limited, Shetty family-Promoters of Avvashya Group and Virendra Gala, a renowned real estate expert in Mumbai.

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MobiDent, a Bengaluru based dental care company that provides inexpensive dental care by dentists at home has raised a round of Pre-Series A funding from New York based DanGold Investment Corp.  The funds will be utilized towards rolling out home dental services in twelve new markets that include metros and mini metros. With the current round, MobiDent will hire 250 dentists and invest in strengthening digital technology, marketing & sales.

Started by Dr Devaiah, a dentist with over 20 years of experience, and Vivek Madappa, a serial entrepreneur, MobiDent’s Dental clinic in a suitcase is the first and one of its kind innovation that aims to make oral hygiene and preventive dental protection inexpensive and delivered at homes.

In Nov 2015, MobiDent was shortlisted as one among the Top 10 ideas out of 19,000 startup ventures by Economic Times Power of an Idea competition. In March 2016 MobiDent was awarded the best startup idea by Royal Academy of Engineering London. Earlier in August 2016, MobiDent secured funding from IIM- Ahmedabad’s Centre for Innovation Incubation and Entrepreneurship (CIIE).

MobiDent’s Vivek Madappa[L] and Dr. Devaiah [R]

Vivek Madappa, CEO and Co–Founder, MobiDent said

In the 21st century health care delivery must be designed to be inexpensive and easily accessible. The traditional model of health care delivered only at  hospitals & clinics is not economically sustainable due to very high real estate & infrastructure costs. Also the traditional model of revenue share with doctors leads to ethical conflicts. The time is right for disruptive innovation using digital technology and portable equipments.

We are excited to bring on board DanGold Investment Corp who can help us fuel our next phase of growth.  The investment will enable us to enhance our technology platform, strengthen marketing & sales and hire 250 dentists across the country.  The funds will also be used to expand our footprint across Mumbai, Delhi, Gurgaon, Chennai and Hyderabad within the next three months.

Over the last 2 years MobiDent has been able to create a need for oral hygiene & preventive dental care among the educated and health conscious consumers with its awareness campaign ‘good health begins with the health of the mouth’

In India the state of the dental industry is appalling. In the Metro towns,  the ratio of a dentist to population is 1:20,000 and in rural areas it is 1:3,00,000. Every year 30,000 dental students graduate. Yet,  unlike other professional courses, there is no organised industry or company waiting to hire them. MobiDent  was started with an aim to create an organised industry for dentists. In the next three years, MobiDent plans to hire 3000 dentists and train 1000 dental hygienists.

Ashu Chahal, Managing Partner, DanGold Investment Corp added

MobiDent is fulfilling a large unmet need with its disruptive home delivery business model. We believe the highly talented team at MobiDent will revolutionize the dental eco system in India.

MobiDent’s business model has been executed across three verticals-Homes, Corporates and Hospital chains. Over the last 24 months, Mobident has served 51,000 patients across 510+ companies and has partnered with more than 20 hospitals  across Bangalore, Mysore, Pune and Ahmedabad.

About MobiDent

MobiDent, a Bengaluru based start-up started in 2014 by Vivek Madappa, a serial entrepreneur and Dr Devaiah, a reputed dentist trained in Switzerland, has launched ‘Dental clinic in a suitcase’ to deliver inexpensive dental care at homes. For more information, please visit MobiDent

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India’s most loved health/fitness app, HealthifyMe hit 1 million downloads on Google PlayStore. With a rating of 4.3/5, HealthifyMe is ahead of all the other apps in this space. Adding to this success, the app has also received an additional USD 1 million [INR 6.7 crores] in funding from Dubai based investor Neelesh Bhatnagar whose company NB Ventures has been actively investing in Indian startups.

One in four Indians risk dying from a non-communicable disease like diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, cancer, and hypertension, among others; before they reach the age of 70. Most of these can be prevented by incorporating healthy habits in one’s routine. HealthifyMe does exactly this for its users in a smart way.

Speaking on the success of the app, Tushar Vashish, Co-founder & CEO, HealthifyMe, said

Hitting 1 million users is a great validation since most of the growth has happened organically. To me, our 4.3 rating matters a lot more as it speaks of how much our customers believe in us. I hope we sustain this momentum by crossing 10 million downloads in the next 18 months.

HealthifyMe has been rated as a Top of 2016 mobile app by Google and it has featured multiple times in the health/fitness category by both Apple and Android.

Speaking on the funding, Neelesh Bhatnagar said

I am keen on investing in emerging digital first Indian startups that have the ability to expand internationally with an asset-light approach. I look forward to helping them expand to the Middle East at the right time. HealthifyMe’s growth journey has been fascinating so far.

This is the second round of funding HealthifyMe has received this year. USD 6 million was raised earlier this year from IDG, Inventus and Blume. The additional funding will be used to hire top leadership and invest in product and tech innovation.

Talking about HealthifyMe’s future, Tushar Vashish said

The New Year is an important time for making health and fitness resolutions. We have some in-store activities for our customers to help them stick to their resolutions. I am glad that we got Neelesh’s support at this critical time in our company’s evolution as we make great strides.

About HealthifyMe

HealthifyMe is a mobile health/fitness company that combines power of technology with real human services to deliver measurable impact. Cofounded in 2012 by Tushar Vashisht, Sachin Shenoy, Mathew Cherian, and incubated by Microsoft Accelerator, Bengaluru, it today is India’s largest digital wellness platform catering to 1 million users with over 150 coaches. Its app is rated 4.3/5 and has been featured by Google, Apple multiple times for quality. For more information, please visit Healthify. You can Download the Healthify app from Google Play and iOS Store

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Innoplexus, a Germany and India based DaaS [Data as a Service] startup has announced the closing of their Pre-Series A funding from HCS, a Germany-based Venture Capital Fund. With the capital raised, Innoplexus plans to file more patent applications, further develop their trademark platform, iPlexus, and invest in marketing.

Innoplexus helps Life Sciences companies generate actionable insights across pre-clinical, clinical, regulatory and commercial stages of a drug. It’s unique Data as a Service [DaaS] engine with real-time data and insights along with an ecosystem of Continuous Analytics as a Service [CAaaS] applications help enterprises make better data-driven decisions.

Hans-Christian Semmler, managing shareholder of HCS, will join as Chairman of the supervisory board of Innoplexus. He started his career in investment banking eventually serving as the CFO of VosslohAG and then as the CEO of Haupt Pharma AG.

Speaking on the recent development Dr. Gunjan Bhardwaj, Co-Founder & CEO of Innoplexus said

We envision to fundamentally transform the Data as a Service landscape for Life Sciences by leveraging machine learning and artificial intelligence to generate insights from the public as well as enterprise data.

Gaurav Tripathi, Co-Founder and India CEO, further added saying

We are working in cutting edge technology areas of Information Retrieval, Network Analysis, Computer Vision and Ontologies and are one of the rare startups with a strong focus on creating proprietary Intellectual Property.

Within their investment strategy, HCS Beteiligungsgesellschaft GmbH strongly focuses on organisations that are distinguished by their technological expertise and their market potential. Innoplexus clients are Fortune 500 companies including some of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies. The startup employs more than 100 highly qualified data Science and software development experts in India and Germany.

About Innoplexus

Innoplexus is a consulting-led technology and product development company focused on big data and analytics. Headquartered in Germany, with over 100 employees working from Pune, Innoplexus services large global pharma & life sciences companies, many of them Fortune 500 companies. They help companies move to continuous decision making by generating insights from structured and unstructured private and public data. Established as a bootstrapped startup in 2011 with no external investments or funding and with a vision to be the dominant player in data and analytics for Life Sciences, Innoplexus has been profitable from day one. For more information, please visit Innoplexus

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ah! Ventures, one of the key players in the Indian start-up space, is taking a big stride forward in the Indian alternative investment universe by playing a key supporting partner role to India’s largest gathering of alternative investment professionals, limited partners, alternative investment funds and private wealth professionals at the upcoming fourth Annual Alternative Investments Summit India (AISI2017), scheduled in Mumbai on January 18th.

AISI2017 is being organized by the Association of International Wealth Management of India (AIWMI) and Indian Association of Alternative Investment Funds (IAAIF). IAAIF is the newly formed representative and advocacy body for the Indian Alternative Investment Funds.

The summit, the most prestigious event in the domain of alternative investments, celebrates the immense growth of Alternative Investment Funds (AIFs). A landmark in this field of investment was achieved when the net worth of the total commitments of AIFs reached INR 50,441 crores on June 30, 2016. Imminent speakers will discuss vital opinions and build business models and open scope for forging business ties.

Promise of a Dynamic Flow of Events

Akin to the success of the preceding summits in the years 2013 to 2015, this summit promises to bring more to the table. The CEO of the Association of International Wealth Management of India, Aditya Gadge has said

India has seen a spectacular growth in the alternative investment market. Numerous HNI Investors have been putting money into Alternative Investment Funds (AIFs) for the past 3 years. Starting from global expertise to a perfect platform for brainstorming innovative investment ideas, the summit promises to bring a lot to the table. This is the first year ah! Ventures is participating in this Summit and as one of the major stakeholders in the Indian alternative investment space is expected to add a lot of value to the content and proceedings. CLUB ah! comprises over 200 potential investors with investment power ranging from US$ 100,000 to USD 1 million each.

Benchmark Success for Alternate Investments

On a global scale, enormous scope is present for the increment of assets. By 2020, a spectacular increase from USD 10 trillion to USD 18.1 trillion has been estimated. 235 AIFs already boast of SEBI accreditation and is being endorsed by over 20 distinguished financial institutions. Although competition in this arena is expected to get tougher, there are plentiful opportunities for new market leaders.

80% of CLUB ah! members are the next-generation professionals open to innovations and new investment challenges.

Harshad Lahoti, Founder & CEO of ah! Ventures commented

There are a uncountable number of young professionals looking to establish successful entrepreneurship, and the alternate investment platform will help them more than they can imagine. Clients seeking a network of investors need not look any further.

The Royal Platter of Keynote Speakers

The summit will be opened with a few words by Aditya Gadge. He said

I encourage all those interested in any form of investment or trading to participate. This boom cannot be grasped without understanding the finance behind it.

Some of the keynote speakers among many, who will grace the event are Hemant G Contractor, Chairman of Pension Fund Regulatory & Development Authority (PFRDA); Srinivas Jain, Executive Director and Chairman of SBI Funds Management; Sarath K. Reddy, Managing Director and CIO of Unifi Capital and Nalin Moniz, Founder and Director of Forefront Capital (Edelweiss Group). ah! Ventures hopes to revolutionize the domain of alternative funding with the support of imminent financial institutions.

Various aspects of alternative investments, including a detailed comparison with traditional investment schemes, will be elaborated. Categories 1, 2 and 3 AIFs will be discussed by figures of authority affiliated to renowned investment planning firms such as Unifi Capital, IIFL Asset Management, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, Multiples Alternate Asset Management, Premji Invest, ICICI Prudential, IFMR Capital, etc.

Abhijeet Kumar, co-founder of ah! Ventures, says

To be a part of such an educative event increases the success rate of any form of investment, not just the alternate ones. We are excited to be partnering such an event.

Delegate registrations are now open on Alternate Investment Summit

About ah! Ventures

ah! Ventures brings the power of funding an idea within reachable limits. Renowned as one of the best private equity clubs, CLUB ah! has been the hand behind many successful global investments. CLUB ah! has provided detailed analysis on consumption and investing models in the Private Equity space. In association with ah! Ventures, one can hope to be a part of the best ideas and create an enviable investment portfolio. For more information, please visit 

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SERV’D, a fin-tech platform, which seeks to bring the unorganised workforce in the ambit of the organised sector and financially empower them, has received funding worth USD 1 lakh from the Digital Financial Service Lab (DFS Lab), a fintech incubator fully backed by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

SERV’D had participated in a boot camp organised by the DFS Lab, a global initiative that seeks to bring together promising entrepreneurs working towards digital inclusion of the least served communities among developing economies.

The 7-day boot camp, attended by 20 organisations from 10 countries, provided them an opportunity to benefit from hands-on advice, mentorship and strategic counsel from industry stalwarts, as well as the chance to be awarded a share of USD $2 million of total investment and a further six months of intensive mentorship.

The DFS Lab did an extensive search for startups around the world. Out of the 700 applicants, 225 were evaluated and SERV’D is among four organisations that have received a grant from DFS labs.

Jatin Agarwal, Co-founder, SERV’D said

We are honoured to be among the four organisations chosen by DFS to receive this grant of USD 100000. The funds will be utilized to develop tech for new roles as well as drive activation for the existing product.

DFS Lab Director, Dr Jake Kendall said

Digital financial services have the power to transform developing country economies, profitably and at scale. We are looking for breakthrough ideas with the potential to bring low income households from the cash economy into the digital financial realm and give them tools to improve their lives.

The entrepreneurs were a very diverse and talented group from all over the world. Their different skills, perspectives and levels of experience produced valuable insights and led to dynamic, highly productive collaborations. We are very proud to be able to play a part in helping them reach their full potential. We are looking at funding the next multi-million dollar and potentially the next billion dollar startup in this space.

About SERV’D

SERV’D Tech Pvt. Ltd (SERV’D) is a fin-tech platform that aims at ‘organizing’ the unorganized workforce, which includes millions of ‘unregistered’ workers in a typical household-maids/ housekeepers, cooks, nannies, drivers and more. This service aims to bring accountability, professionalism and discipline to this sector by ensuring the service providers are registered and documented; and therefore over time, creating a legitimate legal work history for them that enables them to assimilate into the mainstream via financial inclusion. In the long turn, this initiative will enable them access to financial loans thus removing the need for Service Consumers to be the Service Provider’s personal banker. For more information, please visit SERV’D

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ToneTag, a sound-based proximity payment company has raised a round of strategic funding, which brings on board, a group of technology evangelists and digital payment crusaders. Arun Seth is a trustee of the NASSCOM foundation, independent Board member at Narayan Hrudalaya, independent director, Jubilant Food Works, advisory board member at The Energy & Resources Institute (TERI) and governing board member of HelpAge India. Seth has also served as Chairman,  Alcatel-Lucent India ltd and Chairman at BT (India) Private Limited.

T.V. Mohandas Pai is the Chairman of Manipal Global Education. He used to be a Member of the board of directors of Infosys and Head-Administration, Education and Research, Financial, Human Resources, and Infosys Leadership Institute. Anand Chandrasekaran  was the Chief Product Officer of Snapdeal, one of India’s pre-eminent Internet companies as well as Chief Product Officer of Bharti Airtel, the third largest mobile operator in the world. Deepak Ghaisas is the chairman of Gencoval Strategic Services Pvt Ltd. Previously he was the CEO – India Operations and CFO of I-flex Solutions Ltd, India

Kumar Abhishek, Founder & CEO, ToneTag said

ToneTag is creating a payment ecosystem for the country that is completely digital, free from the clutches of cash. It enables an inclusive financial environment for the masses. ToneTag with its unique experience, a range of use cases and a strong partner network is striving to push India into a brighter digital era. Mohandas Pai,  Arun, Deepak, Anand and T K  have transformed several businesses with their proficiency and experience. Their association with ToneTag, brings valuable know-how and will be an asset to the core team. Their individual and collaborative expertise will be instrumental in defining innovative solutions for our technology and give  consumers access to many unique digital experiences, through various channels, that were previously not feasible.

Pranav Pai, on behalf of Mohandas Pai via 3one4 Capital, had this to say:

The ToneTag team have combined their deep insights of the financial and banking systems in India with core technology innovations to solve a long-standing challenge through a disruptive yet simple set of modalities. With the radical economic reforms that are being rolled out, technology like ToneTag’s will be a natural enabler of India’s shift into a new information infrastructure. By accounting for multiple channels of contactless proximity payments, including environments where data connections are unavailable, ToneTag is truly optimizing for simplicity and designing for a seamless and delightful experience with every transaction.

The team is also hyper-aware of the balance to be preserved between issuers and merchants, and has converged upon an inter-operable and platform-agnostic solution. We are tremendously excited by the possibilities of the ToneTag tech stack, and we are looking forward to working with them to scale this vital value proposition.

Arun Seth had this to say about ToneTag

Yesterday’s announcement on large currency notes is another indicator of the government’s drive towards a cashless economy.  ToneTag  is right at the centre of this change, as it helps customers make contactless payments, that are easier,  faster and more secure than paying by cash or cards.

ToneTag technology plays to the natural power of the phone to generate and receive audio signals.  As a result, ToneTag payments can be made on smart phones as well as feature phones, the latter being critical for financial inclusion. Also, ToneTag does not need NFC compatible hardware or QR codes to be scanned. ToneTag is fully compatible with existing financial infrastructure like credit card machines and ATM’s so it has universal use and will help drive India to a cashless and cardless economy.

ToneTag has partnered with major players in the areas of mobile wallets and banking to enable contactless digital transactions on mobile phones, card swiping machines, ATMs and all other acceptance enabling devices. ToneTag is completely hardware and platform independent and works via the transmission of sound waves, alone. It requires no special hardware to be deployed.

About ToneTag

ToneTag is a sound based proximity communication provider that enables contactless proximity payments, proximity communication, location based services and customer engagement services among a multitude of other solutions. Backed by Reliance VC among a host of investors, they have enabled contactless, offline, proximity communication on any device through sound and their team continues to innovate and transform the way devices will communicate with each other in the near future. For more information, please visit ToneTag

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JustRide, an emerging player in the self-drive car rental industry has raised fresh capital of USD 3 million from YC Partners and major global investors. The fresh funds will be used to bolster JustRide’s car sharing platform JustConnect and Yabber, an IoT device for cars which is based on the company’s Smart Vehicle Technology. The company has been to a car sharing economy from an aggregator-based model. JustConnect is a car sharing platform that helps to monetize the cars of the individuals, when not in use.

JustRide, has raised money from major global investors; San Francisco based Susa Ventures, Kima Ventures, Axan Ventures, SCM Holdings from London and IT-Farm from Japan. The company is raising the additional funds from the YC Partners; Justin Kan (Co-founder Jutin.tv & Twitch.tv), Qasar Younis (COO, Y Combinator) and Paul Buccheit (Creator of Gmail) to develop Yabber, a plug and play device that augments the connected car technology and data analytics to analyze the driving skills of the customers. The company, which is mentored by Google’s The Launchpad Accelerator program, was one of the three Indian companies chosen by Y-Combinator this year, which is highest since its commencement in 2005. The company is at the concluding stage to raise a fresh round of equity from major American firms to invest in its in-house Smart Vehicle Technology (SVT).

At this juncture, Ashwarya Singh, CEO & Co -Founder JustRide, explained

Car ownership in India stands at a meagre 20 for every 1,000 individuals; in contrast to the US, which boasts of almost one car for every individual aged above 18. A vast majority in India do not have access to personal transport, presenting an extensive market for car rentals. The challenge is to build a sustainable car-sharing model to cater to the average urban commuters, while keeping in mind the interests of the car owners; who have a depreciating asset that is their car and does not get any return on it.

By leasing their idle car, an average Indian, who earns $500 each month, can increase their income to twofold. Our car- sharing platform has been received with great interest. We have added 220 cars since piloting the concept in March. We are keen on exploring our Smart Vehicle Technology which powers Yabber. The connected car technology complements our business very well and we shall raise a fresh round of capital to build data centers shortly.

Hemant Sah, CTO & Co-Founder, JustRide said

We have launched JustConnect with the vision of creating a car sharing economy. It’s a well-known fact that an average car is seldom driven for more than a couple of hours each day. Many companies have tried to build their business by helping owners rent their vehicles. But, entrusting a stranger with the keys of our car is a dilemma for many. Trust is the key in the sharing economy. This inspired us to expand the scope of our in-house Smart Vehicle Technology (SVT), which was initially used to study the driving behavior of customers and offer incentives. We came up with Yabber, a plug & play on-board diagnostic device which lets cars communicate with external devices. The connected car concept solves the trust concern as it dishes out key inputs on driving behavior of customers. Yabber is also available as a stand-alone product for car owners.

According to Ken Research, the Indian car sharing market is poised to grow at 15% every year till 2018. However, in India most car rental services operate with the traditional model, which restricts their scalability, as they have to purchase every car in their fleet. JustConnect, the new platform introduced by the company helps the car owners to earn by renting their idle vehicle. It integrates the connected car technology with micro leasing of vehicles to build a collaboratively shared fleet of cars accessible to all.

About Just Ride

JustRide is into renting/hiring self driven cars in India. It caters to vendors and peer to peer individuals as well. The concept of self driven car rentals is yet to spread its wings in India. As pioneers in the Indian self drive car rental industry, we believe in the mantra- “Why buy a car, when you can rent one?”

JustRide’s focus lies in redefining the way cars are made, purchased and rented. The company has constructed a Smart Vehicle Technology (SVT) which is crucial for the implementation of a hyper local service model. SVT taps into a vehicle’s electronic system and provides a real-time access to the location and performance parameters of the vehicle, ranging from tire pressure to the current load on the engine to the G-force experienced on each of the individual suspensions. For more information, please visit JustRide